Dr. Herschel Lewis is shown with a patient at his Lawrence office, 3101 W. Sixth St.

Kristin Howard has had a few pets in her time.

Two dogs, four cats, three rats, umpteen hamsters and guinea pigs, a slew of fish and mice, a turtle and a raccoon. Yes, a raccoon. Named Popeye.

“I’ve always had pets around and couldn’t imagine my life without them,” Howard says. “For me, animals are a part of my family — most of the time I actually like them more than my family!” she laughs.

Really? You count rats as family?

“Rats are wonderful pets. They really are like little dogs. They have great personalities, and mine even learned their names,” Howard says.

It’s little wonder that she’s never been one to cut corners when it comes to the vet — even for her rats.

“I had a rat (Izzy) who had a tumor that grew to be the same size as she was. I ended up having it removed, and she lived for another year,” she says. “People thought I was crazy for paying for surgery on a rat that I paid $3 for, but she was my pet, and I wanted to do everything I could for her.”

At $200, that one surgery put Howard on the high end of average annual U.S. expenditures for a single pet. Now that she has a couple dogs, she’s spending a lot more — around $1,000 each of the two years she’s had them.

“I spend more on my dogs than I do on myself,” Howard says of Gus and Sydney, her French bulldog/Lhasa Apso mixes. “I follow the vet’s advice, and luckily I have found a vet who cares about what is best for my pet and is cost-effective rather than just trying to make as much money as they could.”

Pet owners in general are spending more and more at the vet these days — average U.S. household vet expenditures are up 10 percent from 2001, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

In Lawrence, Dr. Herschel Lewis says the amount each client has been spending at his clinic has been noticeably on the rise ever since he opened it in 1965.

He attributes that to a number of things — better diagnostics that uncover more treatable conditions, more and better vaccines, the advent of more costly specialists, and so on.

“But it’s as much a reflection of the general economy. People are spending more money, but there’s more money to spend,” Lewis says.

He says, too, that people are taking better care of their pets than they used to.

“When I first came to Lawrence, I’d routinely have a car accident case when there was a home KU football game. People would just let their dogs run wild,” Lewis says. “Now I seldom see that Saturday afternoons, and I’m sure that’s the case with my colleagues, too. People are taking better care of their animals — their attitudes have changed.”

Option A or option B

For the first six years, Erica Eden’s golden retriever Mabel was fit as a fiddle. As her mom puts it, “she’s a lover, a cuddler and a serious protector.”

But then Mabel seemed to have chronic health problems. First she tore her ACL. Then she got some sort of infection that made her breath smell foul and kept her from walking. Later, she reinjured her ACL. And then came the big blow.

“Her face swelled up, and she’d had bee stings before, so I gave her some Benadryl,” Eden says. “The swelling went down, but there was still something hard there. ...

“I usually go the 24 or 48 hours before calling the vet with something like that. But I just knew there was something really distinct about it, something wrong. I know it sounds weird, but I just knew it.”

Turns out, it was cancer.

“Because I’ve had such health problems, I guess I’m more aware, or maybe I’m just more crazy,” says Eden, who has been diagnosed with cancer herself.

Her Lawrence vet felt the tumor was serious enough to require immediate surgery, even though it would be on a weekend. Getting the cancer out cost her nearly $1,000.

“At the time, all I could think about was whether she’d make it out of the surgery. I didn’t think about how much it would cost or how I’d pay for it until reality sunk in when I went to pick Mabel up,” Eden says.

Many pet owners must weigh a treatment’s cost upfront, though, especially when it comes to non-life-threatening problems — which makes for tough decisions, says Dr. Lewis.

“It’s not unlike in human medicine,” Lewis says. “Example — like it or not, dentistry is a luxury. If you don’t have the money, you don’t have the root canal, even though it’s in your best interest. Same goes for the pet population.”

Indeed, pets’ teeth — along with cancer — are among the most frequently untreated maladies, he says. Eye care, joint problems, torn ligaments, diabetes, allergies and urinary stones are others.

A good vet will be sympathetic to a pet owner’s difficult choice between a tight budget and an expensive procedure, says Dr. Jon Haggard at Eudora Animal Hospital.

“It’s our job to let people know what all is available. It’s not our job to say, ‘This is what I’d do,’” Haggard says.

“If you want to go with option A, the Cadillac option, (we refer you to) the specialist and you might spend $3,000 on doing biopsies and ultrasounds and as much diagnostics as possible,” he says. “Some clients want to go as far as possible to cure the animal.

“Option B is we can do things here and come up with the best solution that we can,” Haggard says. “We understand some options can be out of reach.”

Pet owners can buy pet health insurance, which is available in varieties comparable to human health insurance — everything from bare minimum catastrophe coverage to Cadillac coverage. But only a few pet owners have even the minimal coverage at both Lewis and Haggard’s clinics. They say paying insurance premiums doesn’t yet make financial sense given the relatively low cost of even major procedures.

“On the coasts, where costs are much higher, it probably makes more sense,” Lewis says. “But in the Midwest, it’s going to be a while before pet insurance is more common.”

All kinds of pets

Haggard says one of the most common decisions pitting price against a pet’s well-being is a torn knee ligament, which is especially common in larger dogs. To really fix such injuries usually costs several thousand dollars at an orthopedic specialist, he says. In-house surgery at a non-specialist like the Eudora Animal Hospital can often achieve comparable results for $600 or so.

For those who can’t afford either option — or for older, less active pets — some anti-inflammatory medication and immobilization can be effective for less than $100, Haggard says.

Most animals will heal fine, even with the cheaper option, Haggard says. “It may be fine for a couple months and they may take a bad step and they’ll carry it again for a while. But they do heal and do fairly well.

“We all grew up farm kids — Dr. Shiner, Dr. Shane, myself — we all grew up farming. So our philosophy is a little bit different than somebody who has never lived on a farm and has never seen things in that light.”

“I bet monthly we get a squirrel, a rabbit, a raccoon,” Haggard says, adding that nondomestic pets are sent to Operation Wildlife. “There are people who have pet skunks. At least annually we’re asked to de-scent a skunk — people take in all kinds of pets.”

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Comments

We have a $700 cat. She ate the poison food from Walmart, same food she had been eating for years. The vet charges were supposed to be paid by Menu Foods. We are still waiting for the money, and I doubt we will ever see it. Thank you, Lynn

I have had pets my entire life, and have had to bury them all eventually...usually at very old ages. When it comes to spending thousands of dollars on a pet, I guess millionaires can afford it. As for the average person doing so, this may reflect more on our problems societally dealing with financial reality...this could help explain the credit issues many Americans face, and even the housing bubble? If you can't afford the cost, the pet must be put down...never an easy decision, but a real one in the end.

I have an account set up for my cat Deion and every month I try to put something in it so that, God forbid, something does happen, I will be prepared.
I got him from the shelter and they had given him a complete checkup and all his shots updated so I feel good in that regard.

I used to have cats, but the cost of caring for pets has increased so astronomically that I ended up spending thousands of dollars yearly on vet bills, special food, etc. When my last pet passed away, I decided not to get another because I don't think I could afford to care for it properly.

I have a dog that I adopted from the shelter that requires about $100 in meds every month due to allergies. I know he wouldn't get that kind of care if I sent him back to the shelter. So do I let him suffer or put him down or spend the money on him? I think I'll keep the happy annoying pain that I now live with and suck up the cost. Too bad pet insurance doesn't cover allergies.

Half the problem is small animal vets over charging and over treating. I can have a large animal vet come to my barn for 35 bucks , walk into a small vet office and your going to get a bill about 3 times that for starters.
We have a couple older horses with allergies , I love my vet , he said he could sell me shots for about $30 bucks a pop or I could just give them Zyrtec , bought a big bottle at walgreens and its about a buck or so a dose.
The other problem is over emotional owners , jeez , theres not a cat on earth worth a 1000 dollars , ok I said it but you were all thinking it too ! Having farm animals you learn to cut your losses , doesn't mean you don't love em just as much but you can't risk your financial welfare on an animal.

Uhh, no, cowboy. I spent about 2k on my cat Simon when he had lymphoma and I would spend that again in a heart beat if it could bring him back. Maybe I am "over emotional" about it but he was my baby and I miss him terribly. That is why I have a savings accounts for vet expenses...it can add up quickly, especially in an emergency.

Anyone who thinks veterinarians are "over charging" or "over treating" don't have a clue about veterinary medicine. Of course a large animal vets field calls are cheaper than a small animals office visit. Hello do you know anything about the cost of equipment, employees a building vs a truck. Pet insurance policy are a way to have coverage for big emergencies. Bottom line a healthy pet costs approximately $300 or more annually to care for properly. Yes they need to be checked by a veterinarian at least one a year. Twice a year when they become older. And yes they need heartworm prevention even if they are indoor cats.
Pets are a responsibility if you are not up to it don't have one.